1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) that can be manufactured in a simplified process and a method of manufacturing the LCD.
2. Description of the Related Art
An LCD displays a desired image using electrical and optical properties of liquid crystals injected into a liquid crystal panel. An LCD is thin, lightweight, and has low power consumption compared to a cathode ray tube (“CRT”). For these reasons, LCDs are used extensively in a variety of applications, including devices such as display monitors, portable computer displays, desktop computer displays, high definition (“HD”) imaging systems, and the like.
An LCD generally includes a liquid crystal panel assembly and a backlight assembly. The liquid crystal panel assembly may include a liquid crystal panel, a driving integrated circuit (“IC”), and a flexible printed circuit board. The liquid crystal panel is formed by injecting a liquid crystal material having an anisotropic dielectric constant between a first plate and a second plate. The driving IC applies a driving signal to a gate line and a data line formed on the liquid crystal panel. The flexible printed circuit board connects the driving IC with a printed circuit board, which transmits predetermined data signals and control signals to the driving IC. The liquid crystal panel assembly is combined with the backlight assembly including a lamp assembly and various optical sheets, thereby forming the LCD.
In a conventional color filter-on-thin film transistor (“COT”) type LCD, a first plate has a sequentially stacked structure of a thin film transistor, a color filter, and a pixel electrode. A second plate is structured such that a black matrix layer, a planarization layer, and a common electrode layer capable of changing the alignment of liquid crystal molecules of a liquid crystal layer by a potential difference between it and the pixel electrode of the first plate are sequentially formed on an insulating substrate.
In an LCD having the above-described structure, the second plate is manufactured as follows. First, a black matrix layer is formed on an insulating substrate and patterned to form black matrix patterns having openings therein. Then, a planarization layer is coated on the insulating substrate having the black matrix patterns thereon. A common electrode is then formed on an exposed surface of the planarization layer using a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO). Finally, an organic photosensitive film is coated on an exposed surface of the common electrode, followed by exposure to light, development, etc., to form column spacers corresponding to the black matrix patterns in order to maintain a predetermined distance between the first plate and the second plate.
However, since the black matrix patterns and the column spacers are formed by separate processes, the number of processes is not optimal. In this regard, it is desired to simplify a method of manufacturing the second plate.